Page 43 of Knocked Up By the Russian

Amy shook her head, her head throbbing as she felt the men enter the room behind her.

"Your mom received a package," Zia explained as Ivan reached for her. Amy brushed him off, shooting him a venomous glare before turning toward her friend.

"A threat?" she asked, swallowing harshly. "Like the ones I've been receiving?"

"Similar," Zia mentioned, then her eyes flicked toward Ivan, and she shot her friend an empathetic look. "Let Ivan explain, hon. I've got to run back to the living room. Mira and I are doing damage control at the moment. I just wanted to make sure you got here all right."

With her lower lip wobbling, Amy watched Zia leave. It was only when her friend reached the door to the living room that she turned to face her husband. He stood alone against the closed front door; Kostya and Adrian must've disappeared while she wasn't looking.

"Five minutes," he said, frustration in his tone. It made her blood boil, and her ears rang like church bells. "Ask quickly, I need to get to Mikhail and Lev."

Ask quickly.Amy let out a scoff, closing her eyes against the pain ricocheting in her heart.It's always on his terms.It's always about control."It would've taken you five minutes to tell me what was going on, but you didn't." And the whole drive she'd been sitting worried someone was hurt, or dead.

"Mishka, I don't have time for this," he replied wearily, running his fingers through his hair. He gave up and exhaled a breath. "I know you're angry, but I need to get back to my brothers. The rest of the Bratva are arriving shortly. Ask your questions quickly."

Her eyes narrowed, her lack of priority clear in that moment.

"Go then," she said, barely suppressed fury in her tone. Had he been worried about how she'd react? Was that why he couldn't tell her? The questions burned in her mind, and the way his eyes flickered to the stairwell behind her only made her angrier. Her chin raised stubbornly when he didn't leave. The anger inside her battled with relief.I thought you had something more important,she wanted to snarl but instead, her arms folded.

"Amy, I don't have time for an argument. Mikhail needs me," he reminded her, his voice low. Impatient.

How dare he,her mind hissed, the thought nearly deafening.

"You couldn't stop to think once during the drive about what might've been going through my head?" she spat, tears clouding her vision.

"Amy—" he scowled, and she shook her head, interrupting.

"Don't," she growled.Don't say my name like that. Don't tell me what to do.There were a hundred things she didn't want to hear from him right then and there, and only one thing she did want to hear. An answer to the one question that wouldn't quiet. "You said they'd be safe here."

Her voice came out sounding smaller than she intended, and she swallowed down the emotion before spitting out, "You promised they wouldn't get involved. That men were watching to make sure nothing happened. How the hell did you guys miss a package in the mail?"

"This is exactly what I meant," he muttered, frustration on his face as he closed his eyes. Another shard of pain flicked through her heart as he let out a sigh. "I don't have time for this,Mishka. I need to go to a meeting; can this wait until afterward? I'll come get you as soon as we're done."

"Fine," she muttered with disgust, taking a step away. The relief that crossed his features only made her angrier as she turned to walk to the living room.

She heard him curse behind her, but she didn't look back. The fact that he'd withheld information was still playing on a loop in her brain. It felt too much like he was still trying to control her reactions, control her. And she didn't like that. She'd thought things had grown better between them when he allowed her back to work. That he trusted her. It wasn't like her to jump to conclusions. So why couldn't he tell her what was going on?

"How're you holding up?" Zia whispered when she finally joined them in the living room. Amy swallowed harshly, unable to meet her mother's eyes across the room as she responded just as quietly.

"How am I supposed to hold up? Ivan hasn't told me a fucking thing. What happened this time that's so different from the rest?"

Across the room, Mira and her mother each had a glass of wine in hand, and Amy spotted the Pakhan's wife squeeze her mother's shoulder in comfort.

"He hasn't told you? I thought he was going to; that's why I left," Zia mumbled as the boys let out similar cries of frustration. They were on beanbags in front of the TV, playing some car racing game she'd never seen before. Ava, on the other hand, was cooing over Alex and the twins on the further side of the room; they were in what appeared to be a mini-ball pit, and the children were giggling heartily at her funny expressions.

"Clearly not," Amy muttered with a breath. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"More bullets," Zia finally answered, and Amy let out a breath, pinching her nose. "This time yours wasn't the only name," she finished weakly.

"What?" Amy heard herself say, her voice hoarse. The world around her spun on its axis; she looked up and met her mother's eyes, spotting the tears brimming. Shit. "Zia, whose names were on the bullets?"

"Your family for one," Mira muttered darkly as she joined them, and fury blazed in her eyes as she corrected herself. "The whole family."

Amy swallowed, "Everyone?" What did that mean... Were Zia's and Lev's mentioned too?

Seeming to read her thoughts, Zia reached out and hugged her tight. Her voice came out strangled in Amy's ear as she confirmed it. "Just the women and the children."

"What the fuck?" Amy breathed, but before she could say more, her mother sat down next to her. Amy felt her lower lip wobble. She knew, without anything said, that her mother had been told the truth about what was going on—and maybe even about the rest as well. Remembering how happy her mother had been at the wedding, Amy couldn't help but feel like she'd disappointed her.

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